This lesson presents autobiographical episodes from the

lives of two women from marginalized communities

who look back on their childhood ,and reflect on their
relationship with the mainstream culture. The first
account is by an American Indian woman born in the
late nineteenth century ;the second is by a
contemporary Tamil Dalit writer.
PART 1- THE CUTTING OF MY LONG HAIR

-ZITKALA SA
Zitkála-Šá (1876–1938) (Lakota: Red Bird = Cardinal (bird)), also known as Gertrude
Simmons Bonnin, her missionary-given and later married name, was a Yankton
Dakota Sioux writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political activist. She
wrote several works chronicling her struggles with cultural identity and the pull
between the majority culture she was educated within and her Dakota Sioux culture
into which she was born and raised. Her later books were among the first works to
bring traditional Native American stories to a widespread white English-speaking
readership, and she has been noted as one of the most influential Native American
activists of the 20th century.

Working with American musician William F. Hanson, Zitkala-Ša wrote the libretto and
songs for The Sun Dance Opera, (1913), the first American Indian opera. It was
composed in romantic musical style, and based on Sioux and Ute cultural themes.

She was co-founder of the National Council of American Indians in 1926, which was
established to lobby for Native people’s right to United States citizenship and other
civil rights they had long been denied. Zitkala-Ša served as the council’s president
until her death in 1938.
 THE CUTTING OF MY LONG HAIR
In this lesson, Zitkala Sa described the painful experience of her first day at
school. She was a native American and the other students in the school
were also mostly native Americans.
Only the staff members were whites.

THE FIRST DAY IN THE LAND OF APPLES

The first day in the land of apples was a bitter cold one. The ground was covered
with snow; the trees were bare. The sound of the bell and clatter of shoes were
annoying to the sensitive ears. People murmured in an unknown tongue. The
narrator’s soul had lost her peace and freedom. But all was useless.
 EATING BY FORMULA
A pale- face woman came up after them. The girls were marching into
the dining room. Those were Indian girls in stiff shoes and closely
clinging dresses. The boys entered through the opposite door. There
were tables and chairs arranged in the dining room. Zitkala-Sa was
feeling very uncomfortable. A small bell was rung. Each of the pupils
drew a chair from under the table. Zitkala-Sa, too, pulled her chair and
slipped into it.
But when she turned her head ,all others were still standing. She shyly began to
rise but then there was a second bell and all were seated. A man’s voice was
heard at one end of the hall. Zitkala-Sa looked around to see him. But all others
hung their heads over their plates. When the man stopped his mutterings, a
third bell was rung. Everyone picked up their knife and fork and began eating.
Zitkala-Sa began crying instead. This ‘Eating by Formula’ was too hard a trial for
her.
HER FRIEND, JUDEWIN GAVE HER A TERRIBLE
WARNING
Late in the morning, Zitkala-Sa’s friend Judewin, gave her a terrible
warning. She had overheard the pale face woman talk. They talked
about cutting their long, heavy hair. Among her people, short hair was
worn by mourners and shingled hair by cowards. Judewin decided to
submit but Zitkala-Sa rebelled. She decided not to submit but to
struggle.
ZITKALA’S LONG HAIR SHINGLED
Zitkala-Sa crept up the stairs quietly when no one was noticing. There she found
a large room with three white beds in it. The windows were covered with dark
green curtains. It made the room very dim. Zitkala-Sa went down on her hands
and knees. She crawled under the bed that was farthest from the door. There she
lay huddled.
Soon ,she heard voices calling her name. Women and girls entered the room. Someone
open the curtains. The room was filled with light. Zitkala-Sa was found under the bed
and dragged out. She was carried downstairs and tied fast in a chair.
She cried aloud, shaking her head all the while. She felt the blades of scissors
against her neck. She heard them cut off one of her thick braids. Now she lost her spirit
and stopped struggling. When her long hair was shingled, she moaned for her mother.
But no one came to comfort her.
PART 2-WE TOO ARE HUMAN BEINGS
……BAMA
Bama (born 1958), also known as Bama Faustina Soosairaj, is a Tamil
Dalit feminist, committed teacher and novelist. She rose to fame with
her autobiographical novel Karukku (1992), which chronicles the joys
and sorrows experienced by Dalit Christian women in Tamil Nadu. She
subsequently wrote two more novels, Sangati (1994) and Vanmam
(2002) along with two collections of short stories: Kusumbukkaran
(1996) and Oru Tattvum Erumaiyum (2003). In addition to this she has
written twenty short stories.
WE TOO ARE HUMAN BEINGS ……..BAMA

The narrator, Bama was in the third class. She hadn’t yet heard people
speak openly of untouchability. But she had already seen ,felt
experienced and got humiliated by what it was.

From Bama’s school to home, it was actually possible to walk the

distance in ten minutes. But usually, it took her thirty minutes at the
very least to reach home. It could even take her from half an hour to an
hour. She came watching all the little things happening on the way.

.
THINGS THAT ATTRACTED HER
ATTENTION ON THE WAY
There could be a performing monkey or a snake charmer displaying his
snakes. There could be a cyclist who had not got off his bike for three
days.
She would watch the spinning wheels, the Maariyaata temple, the huge
bell hanging there, the pongal offerings being cooked in front of the
temple, the stalls of dried fish, sweets and fried snacks and all the other
shops next to each other.
She would see the street light demonstrating how it could change from blue to violet;
the Narikkuravan hunter gypsy with his wild lemur in cages ,selling needles, clay beads
and instruments for cleaning out the ears. Each thing would pull her to a standstill and
not allow her to go any further.
A FEW MORE ENTERTAINMENTS:
At times, political parties would arrive and put up a stage and harangue them
through mikes. Then there might be a street play or a puppet show or a “no
magic, no miracle” stunt performance. All these sights would tether her legs and
stop her from going home.
She would see the waiters in the coffee clubs cooling the coffee, people
chopping the onions in front of the shops or almonds blown down by the wind.
And then, according to the season, there would be mango, sugar cane, sweet
potato, palm-shoots, gram, palm syrup and palm fruit ,guavas and jack fruit.
Every day she would see people selling sweet and savoury fried
snacks,payasam,halva,boiled tamarind seeds and iced lollies.
 PACKET HELD BY ITS STRING
One day, Bama saw that a threshing floor had been set up near her street. The
landlord sat there watching the proceedings. Then an elder of their street came
along from the bazaar. He was carrying a small packet. It contained something
like vadai or green banana bhajji. He came along holding out the packet by its
string without touching it. She wanted to shriek with laughter at the sight of such
a big man carrying a small packet in that fashion.
The elder went straight to the landlord. He bowed low and extended the
packet towards him. The landlord opened it and began to eat. She went
home and told the story in all its comic detail. She fell off with laughter
but Annan ,her brother was not amused.
THE INCIDENT MADE HER ANGRY
Annan told Bama that the old man was not being funny when he carried the
package like that. He said everybody believed that they were upper caste and
therefore must not touch the lower caste people. If they did, they would be
polluted. That’s why he had to carry the package by its string.

When she heard it ,she felt terribly sad. It was disgusting. She felt so much
provoked and angry that she wanted to touch those vada’s herself straight
away .She wondered why poor people showed respect and bowed before such
cruel people.
She saw no reason why an important elder of theirs had to act in such a
slavish manner before the landlord. She said, “We too are human beings. We
should never bow low before these fellows. We should work in their fields,
take home our wages and leave it at that.’’
HER ELDER BROTHER’S EXPERIENCE:
Her elder brother who was studying at a university would go to the library in
their neighbouring village to borrow books during holidays. One day, he was on
his way home when one of the landlord’s men asked his name and on which
street he lived. The main point of this was that if he knew on which street (her
brother lived), the landlord’s man would know his caste too.
 ANNAN’S ADVICE
EDUCATION GIVES DIGNITY AND RESPECT
Annan told Bama that they were born in a community of “ low caste
people’’.They were never given any honour, dignity or respect, they were
stripped of all that. He added that if they studied and made progress,
they could throw away these indignities.
He advised her to study with care and learn all she could. He encouraged
her if she was always ahead in her lessons, people would come to her of
their own accord and attach themselves to her. He suggested her to work
hard and learn.
Her Annan’s words made a deep impression on her. She studied hard
and stood first in her class. Many people became my friends.
 READING WITH INSIGHT
1.The two accounts that we discussed are based on two distant cultures. What is
the commonality of theme found in both of them?

2.It may take a long time for oppression to be resisted ,but the seeds of rebellion
are sowed early in life. Do you agree that injustice in any form cannot escape
being noticed even by children?

3.Bama’s experience is that of a victim of the caste system. What kind of

discrimination does Zitkala-Sa’s experience depict? What are the responses to
their respective situations?
REFERENCE VIDEO LINK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duZm6O
ytAns&t=113s
THANK
YOU